Single Red Rose
by katdvs
Summary: Gabi and Josh haven't spoken since Hawaii and are ready to move on with the people they've been talking to online. One-shot


**_Author Note: So this is my first Young & Hungry fanfic, no idea if I'll write more or not, but I just had to write something after Young & Hurricane. xoxo Kat_**

 **Single Red Rose**

"You're talking to him again, aren't you?" Sofia rolled her eyes when she came into the apartment finding her roommate Gabi on her phone tapping away.

Gabi looked up, "Is it again if you didn't really stop during the day?"

"What about when you were working, when _he_ was working?" Sofia moved to the kitchen refilling her water bottle.

"Well I chatted a bit with him while I was prepping my deliveries, and he chatted between meetings. He owns his own company Sofia. He had some good advice for me on growing my business." She looked back down at her phone, "Oh my God."

"What, what's wrong?" Sofia could only imagine what set Gabi off, as she watched her best friend pacing around in front of the couch.

Gabi threw her phone on the couch watching as Sofia picked it up.

Sofia rolled her eyes as she looked at the screen, "You made me think he sent you a dick pick, not that he wants to meet you."

"What if all we can do is talk online, what if what we have can't exist in person." Gabi started twisting her fingers together.

Sofia bit the inside of her cheek as she watched her friend as she tossed the phone from hand to hand, "Or are you afraid that if you meet him, you two will click and then that little opening you have for Josh will seal up?"

"Maybe that" Gabi looked down, she'd lost count of the number of times she was sure Josh would show up, tell her he was miserable without him.

"It's been six months Gabi, you've got a new business and it's going really well all your clients at the health club love your food and that you've made it easy for them to stick to their diets." Sofia sat on the couch, "It's time to let Josh go."

Gabi sat next to her friend, dropping her head on her shoulder, "I know it's time, I just really thought that he would've reached out by now."

Sofia nodded gently, "I think we all did, but you didn't reach out to him either."

Gabi took the phone and started typing, " _Would love to meet up, when and where are you thinking?"_

* * *

"Yolanda" Josh cried from his office, as he stared at his phone screen as he waited for his housekeeper to burst in.

"What now Josh?" Yolanda pretended to be dusting as she studied her boss and saw he was slightly terrified.

"She agreed to meet, where should I meet up with her, when should I?" He was slightly shaking, "Am I ready for this? Is this something I should be doing?"

Yolanda crossed her arms over her chest, "Are you going to go tell Gabi you made a mistake, that you love her and can't live without her?"

"No, I can't put myself through that again." Josh put his phone down as he rose from his desk and looked out at the San Francisco skyline.

Yolanda picked up the phone, "Then you message this girl back, you ask her to meet you at that new restaurant you've wanted to try, tell her you'll be the guy with the single red rose waiting for her."

Josh took the phone, "Okay, I'll give it a try." He looked up from him phone, "Gabi isn't working at that restaurant, is she?"

"No" Yolanda went back to pretending to dust, "She's doing something on her own, well attempting to. I haven't checked in on her lately, but I know she's not working in a restaurant. You won't see her there Josh."

"Good, I would hate for this to get awkward."

* * *

Gabi took a deep breath before getting out of her car and walking up to the restaurant she was to meet her date. It was a new place, hip, everyone in town wanted to go. She looked around for a guy with a single red rose, her heart racing, her breath catching in her chest the moment she saw him—Josh.

She was torn immediately, did she rush over to him, throw her arms around him, kiss him, or did she slowly stroll over nervously, giving him a moment to also realize what was happening, or did she turn, walk away, message him that something came up and maybe they could meet another time, only to stop talking to him?

"Gabi" His voice seemed caught in the wind, his eyes searching for reason as he saw the one woman that was always on his mind no matter how hard he tried.

"Hey Josh" She slowly moved towards him, forcing herself to smile, "Hot date?"

"Um, first date, online kind of thing."

"You'll have a single red rose so she knows who you are." Gabi looked up, afraid to meet his eyes.

"What about you?"

"First date, online kind of thing, I'm supposed to be looking for the guy with a single red rose." Her hands shook as her fingers held tightly to her clutch.

Josh looked around, realizing he was the only man with a single red rose, he was the only man looking for someone, "You're making prepared meals for dieters?"

Gabi nodded, "And you own your own business, you just failed to mention how big it is."

His stomach was in knots, his heart thumping, "I've picked up my phone to call you at least a thousand times over the last six months, even tonight before I left, all I could think about was I should call her, but something always stopped me."

"I keep looking at my phone, sure that you're going to call any moment, and you haven't." She blinked trying to hold back the tears forming in her eyes, "I miss you."

He took a step trying to close some of the space between them, handing her the rose, "I've been a miserable mess without you." He confessed, "I know we said we weren't having fun together, but did we ever really try?"

She shook her head, "No, we never really tried."

"Let's give it a try, tonight we have dinner, we get caught up, and if by dessert we don't hate each other, we'll take a little walk and see where the night leads us. How does that sound?"

Gabi let her eyes fall onto the rose in her hand before she looked back up at Josh, "It sounds perfect, I love that idea."

Josh slipped his hand around hers before leading her into the restaurant. As they caught up on everything, Josh knew he couldn't let her go again, but he also realized that maybe they had jumped into being together so quickly every other time, that they forgot to get to know each other as a couple.

"This chocolate mousse is amazing." Gabi leaned towards him, "I'm glad it turned out to be you."

"So am I." Josh could feel the relief wash over him, "Are you up for a walk?"

"I would love one." Gabi realized fate had put her and Josh together tonight for a reason, they would either part ways as friends, future lovers, or say goodbye once and for all. She said a silent prayer that this wasn't their final goodbye.

They walked a few blocks before ending up at the pier looking out at the ocean. Both wanted to say something, but found it hard to find the words.

Josh finally looked over at her, a smile filling his face as he saw the moonlight reflecting on her creating a wonderful glow, "Gabi, I love you, and please don't freak out, I don't want a life without you, I can't just be friends with you though, not when all I can think about is kissing you, not when all I want to do is hang out with you. Why is it always so difficult for us?"

She threw her arms around him, unable to control the impulse any longer, "I love you to Josh, I just want to be with you. I don't know why it's so difficult I know that I'd rather not have fun with you than have fun without you. Do you understand?"

He cupped her face with his hands, "Let's try to have fun together, we'll go on actual dates, we'll keep this between us, see if we can last more than a week."

Gabi nodded, "I like that idea."

Josh smiled before he finally kissed her, his fingers combing into her blonde hair as her arms pulled him closer, causing him to lean down. If he only ever had this moment with Gabi at least it made sense, it felt right everything fell into place in that moment.

Gabi needed this to last, she needed to remember this forever she didn't know what would happen tomorrow, or the next day, let alone a week from now. But she was going to enjoy what she had from Josh as long as possible.

* * *

Sofia opened the door with her laundry basket in one arm when she saw Yolanda on the other side, "Oh hey, what's up?"

"I just thought I should check on Gabi, I haven't for a while."

Sofia nodded as she moved into the hallway, "She's on a date with this guy she met on some app. They've been talking nonstop for weeks, he finally asked if she wanted to meet tonight at that new restaurant."

"Was he supposed to be carrying a single red rose?" Yolanda couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Realization dawned on Sofia, "Does Josh have a date tonight?"

"And he's meeting her at that new place with a single red rose."

"Finally, think they'll tell us?"

Yolanda shook her head, "Not if their smart, they'll sneak around at first, try to find their footing as a couple."

"Well I hope they figure it out cause I don't think either of them can go through this again."

"I don't think any of us can. I'll see you later."

"Night Yolanda, I'll let Gabi know you dropped by." Sofia shook her head as she left for the laundry room, only Josh and Gabi would end up on a date with each other.


End file.
